As Senate bill advances, can Congress pressure Latin America to root out Hezbollah?
Senators advanced a bipartisan bill on Thursday that would threaten foreign governments with visa bans if they fail to contain Hezbollah activity in their territories.
WASHINGTON — US lawmakers want to pressure Latin American governments to root out Hezbollah operations within their borders with consequences from Washington.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted on Thursday to advance a bill sponsored by Sens. John Curtis (R-Utah) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) that would impose visa bans on government officials and financial actors in countries deemed “terrorist sanctuaries” for Hezbollah. The bipartisan bill directs the State Department to assess which countries or regions in Latin America meet that legal definition and if they have “knowingly tolerated” or “failed to take action" to combat the group's activities.
The Senate bill seeks to pressure foreign governments in countries like Argentina — where Hezbollah carried out the nation’s deadliest attack in a 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center that killed 85 people — Brazil, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela to go to greater lengths to counter Hezbollah’s influence. But experts warn that the bill’s impact is blunted by its lack of federal funding to assist foreign governments.
Hezbollah has an active network of drug trafficking and money laundering in Latin America as part of its global financing network. Curtis and Rosen said the clandestine operations in neighboring countries pose a national security threat to the United States “and cannot be tolerated.” Of the 33 countries in Latin America, five have designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization but still struggle to foil the group's operations.
